[JURIST] Pakistan's new government on Thursday lifted the country's moratorium on executions. The Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), a center-right party, took power during elections in May, defeating the incumbent Pakistan People's Party (PPP) [official websites]. PML-N Interior Ministry spokesman Umer Hameed declared [AFP report] that the government will begin to
[read more]

[JURIST] The North Carolina Senate [official website] passed 29-12 legislation [HB 695, materials] on Wednesday that places severe restrictions on abortion. The bill will likely shut down most of the state's abortion clinics because it requires clinics to meet the same standards as ambulatory surgery centers [AP report]. The bill
[read more]

[JURIST] Younis Chekkouri, a Moroccan Guantanamo Bay [JURIST backgrounder] detainee, recently disclosed [Al Jazeera report] in a letter to his lawyer that the US military personnel are punishing him and other hunger-strikers every time they leave or return to their cells. Chekkouri described being surrounded by eight guards and a
[read more]

[JURIST] The Chairman of the Supreme Constitutional Court of Egypt [official website], Adly Mansour [BBC profile], on Thursday took the oath to become the interim head of state after the Egyptian military deposed [JURIST report] President Mohamed Morsi [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] and suspended the nation's constitution on Wednesday.
[read more]